New research reveals unexpected post-mating gene expression in model ...( perm and proteins transferred from male...)

"We looked at the reproductive tracts of females at three, six and 24 hours post-mating," said Mack. "Just getting enough material through dissection is extremely difficult and time-consuming, but this kind of time-based evaluation of post-mating gene expression in Drosophila had never been done."

Perhaps surprisingly, very little is known about how gene expression in female reproductive tissues changes in response to the presence of sperm and male molecules. The study compared 3-day-old mated and unmated females and discovered the presence in mated females of a startling 539 genes whose activity changes after mating.

"One novel feature of this research was Paul's decision to look at what happens over time," said Bender. "That's how we found out that the activity hits a peak six hours after mating. This indicates quite a large genetic response in the female tract to male-derived molecules and sperm."

Though considerable research has been done on male Drosophila over the years, relatively little had focused on females. Just why the array of gene expression peaks at 6 hours is not yet clear, but revealing this timing could help in controlling insect pests. That is one reason the research was funded by the Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Fund, a joint program between the United States and Israel. Since 1979, BARD has funded nearly 900 research projects in almost all 50 states. Support for the research also came from The National Institutes of Health.

The Bender and Heifetz teams weren't operating in the dark, since earlier studies had examined some post-mating gene expression in Drosophila, but that earlier work did not examine expression over a set time period and i
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Contact: Kim Carlyle
kcarlyle@uga.edu
706-583-0913
University of Georgia
27-Jun-2006